The Hamptons International Film Festival announces today the restructuring of its programming staff, upping Director of Programming, Rajendra Roy, to serve as the festival’s Artistic Director and Programming Associate Josh Koury to serve as Programming Manager/Shorts Programmer. As Artistic Director, Roy will oversee all programming and the entire artistic focus of the festival’s year-round activities. He will continue to work closely with Executive Director, Denise Kasell and Board Chairman, Stuart Match Suna. Koury will remain in charge of programming the short film division and will report to Rajendra Roy. The Hamptons also welcomes two new board members: Gerry Byrne and Denise Wohl, who both have extremely strong backgrounds in the world of entertainment and media as well as long-standing ties to the Hamptons.

“Raj and Josh are incredibly creative and talented and have been key members to the Hamptons team. I am thrilled that they will be continuing to work with us in their new expanded roles,” said Executive Director, Denise Kasell. “The expansion of the Hamptons new board members ensures that the festival will continue to benefit from a diversity of experience and opinions. I am confident they will be valuable assets to the growth of our festival,” states Kasell.

Rajendra Roy joined the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2002 as Director of Programming. Before the Hamptons, Roy spent eight years in the film festival programming and production field at companies such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to the Mix Festival. He was appointed the sole American on the Competition Selection Committee for the Berlin International Film Festival in addition to contributing editorial to several high profile publications. Roy’s contributions to the Hamptons have been invaluable; not least among them the “Rising Stars: Screen Acting Discoveries” program to celebrate the art of film acting and showcase emerging talent. (It is just one of the many progressive and stimulating programs he has implemented into the festival.)

Josh Koury is the Short Film Programmer and Programming Manager for the Hamptons International Film Festival. A documentary filmmaker himself, Mr. Koury received critical acclaim for his film, Standing By Yourself (2002). Mr. Koury is also the Programming Director and Co-Founder of the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival.

Gerry Byrne, a native New Yorker and a 1966 graduate of Fordham College, Mr. Byrne began his career in publishing at the New York Daily News in 1969. His extensive experience and range of positions include an 11-year tenure as Group Vice President and Publisher of Variety and Daily Variety, Senior Vice President of Planning and International Development at Norman Lear’s Act III Publishing, and President and CEO of Stagebill Media. Active in countless charities and community organizations, Mr. Byrne was awarded the Salah M. Hassanein Humanitarian Award in 1996.

Denise Wohl is a talented artist whose work has appeared in various publications including Harper’s Bazaar, National Lampoon and Esquire. She also served as Head of Production of Marvel Comics and is currently developing a new visionary adventure series. She is someone that anyone would look up to as a role model. Wohl is also a compassionate person who is a board member of several charities, always thinking of others and how she can make a difference.